Medical Helicopter Company Air Methods Exploring a Sale

By Dana Mattioli and David Benoit

Medical-helicopter company Air Methods Corp. is exploring a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Englewood, Colo.-based company is working with bankers to sound out potential buyers, the people said. A process is in the early stages and may not result in a deal, they added. As of Wednesday morning, Air Methods had a market capitalization of about $1.3 billion.

With a fleet of 450 helicopters and airplanes that it uses to airlift and treat patients, Air Methods is the U.S.’s largest operator of medical helicopters. The company, which has more than 300 bases of operations and serves 48 states, also offers billing and other services and designs and manufactures aeromedical and aerospace technology.

In the third quarter, the company posted a profit of $81.8 million, a 22% decline from the year-earlier period. Sales were flat at $311 million in the period.

Air Methods is facing a possible fight for board seats waged by activist investor Voce Capital Management LLC, which has been pressuring the company for nearly two years. Voce last year agreed not to run a board fight after the company agreed to add a new independent director. Earlier this week, Voce criticized the company’s board for offering “no credible plan” to boost its stock price.

Air Methods’ shares recently traded at around $36.40. The stock is down about 9% over the past year.

The activist pushed Air Methods in late 2015 to seek a private-equity buyer, suggesting it could get as much as $60 a share in a buyout. Voce cited other buyouts of emergency-medical companies, including KKR & Co.’s 2015 purchase of rival Air Medical Group Holdings Inc.

In 2015, Air Methods said it was working with bankers to review its strategic options, but last year said it had concluded the process and decided not to move forward with a sale.

Health-care service companies have been particularly active deal makers in recent months. In October, a group of investors led by private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP agreed to buy Team Health Holdings Inc. for about $3.2 billion. In December, ambulatory-surgery companies Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc. and AmSurg Corp. agreed to merge in a deal that would create a $10 billion company.

Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com

Breaking the story

Dana Mattioli and David Benoit were first to report that medical-helicopter company Air Methods Corp. is working with bankers to explore a potential sale, according to sources. As of Wednesday morning, the largest operator of medical helicopters in the U.S had a market capitalization of about $1.3 billion.

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